All Stirred Up originally peaked my interest as a romance novel with cooking (and I love food!), however it turned out to be more of a contemporary fiction with a lot of drama and a little bit of romance thrown in (and I mean a very little bit).

It mostly centers around the main character, Susan, renovating her family's restaurant and reopening it with a brand new head chef. She finds out her ex, Chris, is also opening his own restaurant in the same town. However, they try to stay clear of each for about 50% of the book. Then, of course, they are thrown into interactions with each other that can not be avoided.

And then there's the side characters, who are the <i>most</i> annoying side characters I think I've ever read. Susan has two neurotic sisters, plus some extended family somehow that gets entwined with Chris and every single time the author mentioned the father, I want to roll my eyes. Everyone besides Susan, Chris, Gloria, Beth & Rab are so useless to the story, it made me not want to read this book.

Also, the author painstakingly puts forth an effort to tell about the descriptions of the city, or the landmarks, or the street names, etc. and for me it was just boring. I've never been there, so I didn't really care, nor could I picture what she was trying to describe. It did not add to the story at all for me. Honestly, I was tempted to stop reading at about 10%. Turned out okay though, I guess. <i> Shrug</i>

Susan Napier has been tasked with revamping (and saving) her late grandfather's restaurant business by travelling to the first location in Edinburgh. However, her ex-boyfriend, Chris is also headed to Edinburgh to open his own restaurant. In the midst of family and work drama, Susan and Chris are suddenly in each other's worlds again.

Based on the cover and blurb for this book, I was expecting more of a "rom com". For me, the romance was extremely lacking. The first half of the story is based around her family drama and a lot of details about the restaurant refurbishing. There really wasn't any romance until halfway through the book.

I found that there were way too many characters who all basically sounded the same. All of Susan's family and acquaintances were shallow and honestly felt like caricatures. I think this was supposed to make Susan feel more relatable but, for me, it fell flat. I feel like I needed some sort of family tree to make sense of all of the characters, because honestly, I couldn't distinguish between many of them.

*Review copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

A great, romantic Austen inspired novel. "All Stirred Up" is a quick, exciting read that you won't be able to put down.

This a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's "Persuasion". It was entertaining. I expected it to follow Austen's a little more closely, but again, it was a modern adaptation which means issues in the early 1800' are very different from situations today.

That said, I did like the book. It was entertaining and the characters were quirky. The point-of-view bounced between Susan and her love interest. Each regretting past encounters and hoping for better times in the future. The book is easy to read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to the author, Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not typically a rom-com reader, but I loved this book. A retelling of Jane Austen's classic "Persuasion" - which I didn't read as such, because you can't improve upon perfection - beautifully set in Edinburgh and focussed on the upmarket restaurant industry. I loved both the heroine and the hero, both went through hard times and I found the characters well-drawn and the details of restaurant kitchens and family dynamics (what an awful bunch!) were so well done. Yes, there were times when I wanted to shake the main characters and tell them to get out of their ruts of miscommunication and misunderstanding, but overall I thought the slow pacing served the story well, as it gave all the characters time to evolve. .

This story follows Susan in her quest to revitalize her family’s renowned but now failing restaurant—all while her old love moves back into town to start his own restaurant. The food and location descriptions are wonderful, but the book moves very slowly on the romantic front. From the cover and marketing, it seems that the romance will be a much bigger part of the story.

Well, my emotions and opinions are all stirred up over this one, my fellow romance book loving friends. I’m not sure whether to give you the good or bad news first, so I’ll settle with reality first and let you decide where the chips fall.

Please note I read and reviewed a NetGalley advanced reader copy. Therefore, I know to overlook accidental typos and occasional grammar errors. They happen sometimes. I just roll with it. Heck, even in final editions they usually do not register on my reviewer radar at all, because I’m all about the romantic tale itself. However, in this case, especially in the very beginning, the third person narration came across like the movie George in the Jungle. The complete absence of pronouns and over usage of Chris and Susan’s names pretty much non-stop was bewildering to the point it was glaringly annoying. I half expected them both to start calling themselves by their own name (i.e. Chris leaving now to go home; Chris thinks Susan looks pretty today). Here’s to hoping a final edit resolved that blatant issue. I didn't let it overly impact my rating, btw. Just giving you a friendly, hopefully helpful heads up.

Once I inoculated myself to that form of script, I was starting to get pulled into this relationship angst, chef themed romance. But well past midway with little to no interaction between the main couple, who even started dating other people, I found myself disappointed in the lack of progress between these two supposedly destined to be together lovebirds.

Yeah, a big reveal and parts of a rather alarming explanation gets told about what actually happened ten years ago, but really? Was I just supposed to roll with them dating and lip locking with other people after repeatedly running into each other again? It’s a personal preference, folks, but I always only want my main couple to have eyes, lips, and hands for each other. I know Susan and her brief boyfriend didn’t get very far around the bases, but I can’t help but wonder about Chris. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed he actually did stay too busy to get overly busy with that OW, who was a very close relative of Susan. What a shame it even had to cross my mind though.

Another romance book recipe tip I’d like to make here is to cut back on the descriptive tour guide speals regarding names of buildings, bridges, rivers, streets, water ways, etc, in this city that popped up more than once. I appreciate history and geography as much as anyone, but they were overly lengthy and didn’t seem to fit a purpose. Unless you already were quite familiar with this area, that likely went over your head like it did mine. Mostly because it wasn’t presented in a novice to the region type manner.

The restaurant biz business also stole loads of time away from the romantic plot. I’m thinking the actual romance was only about 25% of this book, meaning it was there but simmering on the backburner most of the time. The family dynamics on both sides did contribute to the main couple’s life situations so their appearances were more understandable.

What the author did accomplish was tug at my heart strings for the loss of time and love both these characters missed out on during their ten year l-o-n-g separation. Finally knowing the full scoop was enlightening, surprisingly mostly on Chris’ side. We pretty much knew Susan’s big misstep story upfront, except for a rather predictable reveal. Granted they both seemed bent on getting over it now with other people. Susan didn’t fight hard enough for love back then, and I wasn’t quite sure either were going to now. Chris actually had a good reason to initially want nothing to do with her. Despite all this, the author still had me wanting them to push everything and everyone aside and reconnect. So that is saying something, folks. Cuddos for that. After all, it is romance that I always root for.

Chris being instantly aware and attracted to a gorgeous relative of Susan’s, who he chose to start dating didn’t do me any favors. Movie star other man making moves on Susan evened that playing field you could say.

All said and done, sadly they both should have been upfront and honest about the issues that were drowning their relationship way back when. In summary, I’d call this a slow burn, ruined once but resurrected out of the ashes romance come back story.

P.S. Susan’s dimmed witted, spoiled, vane, self entitled daddy didn’t deserve any type of wealthy lifestyle. All he did was whine and complain about their reduced, downgraded circumstances from being insanely rich to just still wealthy, when he was the main reason for it. Everyone seemed to placate him and that really irked me. It would have been nice if he would have been remorseful and owned up to his mistakes.

Title: All Stirred Up, Author: Brianne Moore, Pages: 320, stand-alone, slow burn second chance after l-o-n-g separation, OM scenario, OW scenario, business manager & pastry chef heroine, not romance safe for some, third person narration.

(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review. There is no affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/NetGalley.)

Did I want romance? Yes. Did I get a ton of it in this book? No. Did I get something better? Absolutely. A modern-day retelling of Persuasion, a lot of this book focuses on the restaurant. I really liked the setting and the basic bones of the story.

All Stirred Up by Brianne Moore checked a ton of boxes for me! Not only is it inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion, but also features Edinburgh, restaurant behind-the-scenes (including addressing sexism, xenophobia and classism in the industry) and ex-lovers coming back into contact after almost a decade! Sign me up!

Synopsis: Susan Napier’s grandfather, Elliot, was a restaurant mogul but in the years since his death, his restaurants have taken a bit of a hit. Susan is ready to take over the reins. Where better to start than the flagship location in Edinburgh? But things get just a bit more complicated when celebrity chef Chris Baker arrives on the scene, fresh off his TV show and still holding Susan’s heart in his hands — unbeknownst to them both.

So many cute, fun moments and Chris is a great leading man! Susan is totally relatable, with her somewhat odd family, moments of self-doubt and her passion for her career. I was enamored with the setting, although perhaps I’m a bit biased because I love Edinburgh so much.

I will say that it does drag a bit in the middle, and I wished there had been more flashbacks into Susan and Chris’ previous relationship and then a little more time with the characters once everything comes to light. There’s so much tension between the characters in this book and it really works, until the last possible minute because there’s very little reflection and communication at the end, and everything ties up just a little too neatly. Seriously, I need a prequel and a sequel stat.

But on the whole, I really enjoyed it! I can totally see this as a movie actually, be it Hallmark or a Netflix original, but it’s also got all the elements of a prefect rainy day or chill weekend read. Just make sure you’ve got a sweet treat or something to snack on because let me tell you something, this book can leave you so hungry!

All Stirred Up is out on September 8th & is definitely worth picking up! Thank you to @netgalley for this e-ARC.

A fun "Persuasion" retelling set in Edinburgh. A woman desperately trying to revive her family restaurant and the chef that she had a relationship with years ago who has a competing restaurant. It's a cute story, but stick to Jane Austen.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I try to read this book until the end but i can't. I'm sorry for requesting this but end up dnf this book. Anywyay I love the book cover. It's beautiful. It just that I'm a mood reader. It means that i read a book based on my book. It just that i'm not in the mood to read this book anymore

A recipe for delight. Restaurant Wars brought to the page. The Napier family a victim of the times have seen their fortunes wane and end up in closures and facing bankruptcy. Once a proud restaurant name with several outposts, Susan pushes the family to relocate to Evan chillier Scotland. The restart involves an ex boyfriend trained under her grandfather and now a well established media culinary darling. It’s enough to get your pot boiling. It’s breezy and fun . Happy reading

An updated version of Persuasion, set in Edinburgh instead of Bath, and with the Capt. Wentworth character now a TV chef and Anne Elliot a restaurant owner. The story and characters transpose pretty well, especially the Elliot/Napier family. It made me want to visit Edinburgh during the Book Festival, which coincidentally happens to be going on as I write this from my pandemic-stricken travel-banned country. Oh well. Maybe in a year or two...

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

tw: death of a parent; death of a grandparent; former drug use; death of a friend

This was pitched as a Persuasion retelling set in Edinburgh between a woman trying to revive her family restaurant and the chef that she had a relationship with years ago who has a competing restaurant.

Sadly this was much less romance than I wanted and much more of a contemporary fiction. The majority of the focus is on Susan's life, the restaurant, and her family drama. When I read a Persuasion retelling, I want pining and angst. The two characters didn't even start interacting until more than 50% of the way into the book. The scenes we got with them were very good, but I wanted so much more than we got. I pulled for them, but would have loved for the story to be more centered around them.

Also, the writing was a little long winded in its descriptions of the city. I found myself skim reading over paragraphs of description about the city layout, because as someone who had never been there, I had no context. It seems to be just rattling off various landmarks without giving me the atmosphere or feeling of the city, so it didn't add to the story for me in any way.

As a huge Jane Austen fan, I couldn’t resist Moore’s novel. It was funny, light hearted and endearing! A little slow in parts but I really enjoyed it overall! And it takes place in Edinburgh, a huge win my books!

I enjoyed this story of Susan and Chris. There were laugh out loud funny parts but also very sad and serious parts. I thought they balanced each other well. I found the details of the restaurants to be very interesting. I love a good atmospheric book and this is exactly what this book was. Taking place in Edinburgh, I could see the cobble stone streets and feel the mist in the air. I could taste and smell the food was so deliciously described. The romance was slow to build but for good reason. Susan and Chris had things they needed to work through. I really enjoyed this book. Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Once upon a time, Susan's family had a restaurant empire, but gross mismanagement following her grandfather's death had led to near bankruptcy. With only one restaurant left, Susan was determined to keep her family legacy alive, but she never planned on a blast from the past complicating things.

I had a lovely time cheering for Susan as she attempted to salvage her family's place in the restaurant world, and here are five things I really loved about ALL STIRRED UP.

1. It's a second chance romance, and anyone who knows me is well aware that this is one of my favorite tropes. Susan and Chris were very much in love back when Chris was first starting out. While dealing with overwhelming grief after her mother's untimely death, Susan cut ties with Chris. Their reunion was bumpy and fraught with hurt feelings and guilt, but I found myself hoping for a reconciliation the whole time. It was easy to see the spark was still there, and oh, the history they shared! There was also more to the story, and I was eager to learn each and every detail.

2. It's about family - both blood and found. I enjoyed getting to know Susan's family. They were far from perfect, and all seemed to still be grieving the loss of her mother in some way. It was beautiful watching them heal together and grow closer. I also adored the restaurant family. You work that hard, for that many hours, you tend to form some strong bonds. They were an interesting and eclectic bunch, who supported each other.

3. I loved being in Scotland. Moore showed us some of the sights and incorporated some local color which I always appreciate. I liked the way she worked the festivals into the storyline as well.

4. Foodies will love the endless meals served in this book. The descriptions were mouthwatering, and there were also some really sweet food memories in there too. I got to watch Susan train a young pastry chef, concoct new and fresh desserts, and compete in a cooking showdown. I enjoyed it all, however, I wish the book had pictures and smells to round out my experience.

5. Though this book dealt with multiple losses, it was also a lot of fun. There were a few secondary character who often stole the show, and I must admit, Susan's nephews provided some sweet and giggly moments for me. I was a fan of those rom-com bits that kept popping up as well. I found I smiled a great deal as I read this book, and for me, that a win.

Overall, I had a wonderful time rooting for Susan as she took her second chance at saving the restaurant and her second chance at getting her happily ever after. The book was fun and sweet and filled with many touching moments which left me with a smile on my face.

This is a great retelling of Persuasion by Jane Austen. I really liked the descriptions of Edinburgh which I have never been so it allowed me to envision the location the book is based in. I enjoyed both main characters Susan and Chris. Also Susan's family was very similar to how Jane Austen describes Anne's family in Persuasion but with a modern twist which was fun to compare.

The only thing that I found was that this book was a little slow and I would have liked more scenes with Susan and Chris in regards to their romance.

But if you like contemporary retelling of Jane Austen novels then you will enjoy this book.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book is a sweet second chance love story. I enjoyed the food references, though it will make you hungry whilst reading it. It was interesting to read about the the family run business. The writing was OK and an interesting idea behind the story. The main characters were likable.
It was difficult to get into as the beginning was not particularly engaging. I disliked the family of the MC as they seemed like trope rich people which made it hard to read those parts concerning them. The story was a bit predictable, which made the story less engaging.
Overall, a nice read.

But wait, there's more! That's how I felt reading this fun, magic carpetbag of a story where you just reach in and pull out another complication in the plot. But the storyline gets away with the "one more thing" aspect because it keeps the plot moving and really if you think about it, that's the way some parts of your life seem to go. Despite the unfolding drama at every turn, Susan Napier manages to reboot her family's restaurant, help her sisters, find out what happened all those years back, and discover what she really wants in a relationship. Restaurant kitchens are described with accuracy, more so than in other books focused on the industry, so attention to detail is appreciated. Additionally, there was a lot of Scottish pride, a true immersion in all things Edinburgh. Food is at the forefront, as is family, but there is a romance that keeps you wondering. Read it for the fun of it and consider All Stirred Up a quick trip to Scotland.